Can my 19 yo brother get a GC with my parents?

M

maziar

New Member
Hi,

I am a US citizen and am applying for a GC for my parents. Will their 19 years old son get it automatically too? What do I need to do?

I heard something about "to follow" benefit or something like that. But someone told me it does not apply in this case (parents of US citizen)!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
maziar said:
I am a US citizen and am applying for a GC for my parents. Will their 19 years old son get it automatically too?
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No. You need to file an FB4 I-130 for him. The wait is several years.

I heard something about "to follow" benefit or something like that. But someone told me it does not apply in this case (parents of US citizen)!
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That is correct.
 
Thanks.

So if I understand correctly when someone gets their GC, they are expected to actually live in the US. Does the US government then expect people to leave their minor children behind?! (or is 19yo not minor enough?)
 
maziar said:
So if I understand correctly when someone gets their GC, they are expected to actually live in the US. Does the US government then expect people to leave their minor children behind?!
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Frankly, I'm surprised they let people sponsor their parents at all. Most countries restrict family immigration to spouse and children of the sponsor. I think the intention of allowing parents to be sponsored was to help concerned citizens whose parents need support from their grown-up children, not to help parents who are supporting other children themselves.
 
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maziar said:
Does the US government then expect people to leave their minor children behind?! (or is 19yo not minor enough?)
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The ability to sponsor the parents of a US citizen, as I understand it, was designed to offer parents living alone in their home country the ability to be united with their children in America.
 
No one is forcing your parents to come over to US. If your parents are concerned about their minor child(ren), they have the option to stay with him.
 
Yes. If they are unwilling to do so, they should not have applied. BTW, 19 in the US is an adult. If parents want to coddle a 19 year old adult, that is not an issue for US law.

It is already an issue for many that law allows USC children to sponsor their parents as immediate relatives with almost immediate entry.
 
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Concerned4us said:
Yes. If they are unwilling to do so, they should not have applied. BTW, 19 in the US is an adult. If parents want to coddle a 19 year old adult, that is not an issue for US law.
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Yes. But the fact that 19 is not an adult in some other countries (e.g. Japan, Taiwan) means that the parents and/or the 19 year old could be in legal and financial problems if the parents left the 19 year old behind.

I think that is why they put the age cutoff at 21 for children's immediate relative and derivative GCs, since there are still a few countries where legal adulthood starts at 21 (I believe it also used to be 21 in the US decades ago). To make it consistent across the board they just set the cutoff at 21 for everybody instead of having to maintain a country-by-country age cutoff list.
 
I cannot image the age of majority becoming 21 in the US at any time. Too many laws would have to be changed. Can you imagine the problems if one had to be 21 to sign a contract or enlist in the military. BTW, I was under 21 when I graduated from college. If the age of majority was 21, I could not have had a job or gotten married without permission or signed an apartment lease or ...
 
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